THE BODY charged with promoting Wales as a tourist destination globally could have its current budget cut by a third.

THE BODY charged with promoting Wales as a tourist destination globally could have its current budget cut by a third.

In the current financial year. the Wales Tourist Board received £45m from the Welsh Assembly Government.

But Economic Development Minister Andrew Davies recently admitted a shortfall in the matched funding pot for Objective One projects of £15m to £20m.

The deficit will be made up from funds within his massive £1bn plus budget.

The Minister is agreeing budgets for bodies under his jurisdiction, which as well as the WTB includes the Welsh Development Agency.

However, The Western Mail has learned that the WTB is now bracing itself for budget cuts of £12m to £15m.

A source close to the negotiations revealed that while the budget has not been settled the Minister and his civil servants have already "made up their minds" about a substantial cut.

Any cuts would be likely to impact on both the WTB's marketing budget and on its section four grants to Welsh tourism businesses.

"It looks like there could be a substantial cut-back. There could be anything between £12m and £15m off the budget," the source revealed.

The Cardiff-based quango has had success with tourism numbers in Wales.

United Kingdom Tourism Survey figures for the first eight months of 2003 showed that Wales outperformed the rest of the UK, with visitor spending in Wales up 20% against 2002.

In August 2003 visitor nights spent in Wales jumped 40% against a UK figure of 2%.

A spokeswoman for the Wales Tourist Board said, "Our operational plan for next year has not been finalised as yet, we are still in the process of discussing this with WAG.

"The WTB board will meet with the Minister next week to discuss the operational plan for the forthcoming year."

A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly Government said, "As is usual at this time of the year, the Assembly Government has budget discussions with its sponsored bodies and the tourist board is no exception.

"A particular strand of the discussion with the tourist board relates to bids for a further round of finance from the European Structural Funds. It would be quite wrong for either the Assembly Government or the Tourist Board to comment on the progress of these discussions at this stage. "Additional information on the Board's plans for 2004-05 will be set out in their operational plan which the Minister expects to receive and approve in March in line with normal practice."

Tory Economic Development spokesman Alun Cairns said cuts would be a disaster.

"Tourism is one of the few sectors that can be grown relatively easily and which can result in an immediate return on investment," he said.

"It is the fastest growing sector of the economy and needs every element of support - the Minister has always agreed with that in the past, and to cut funding to the Board would be nothing short of a political U-turn.

"Such a cut would have a direct impact on tourist organisations up and down the country - from farmers doing bed and breakfast to major hotel businesses."

"Andrew Davies must make an immediate statement to clear up any confusion or threats of cuts, otherwise his credibility as Minister will remain in question," he added.

The Liberal Democrats' economic development spokesperson Jenny Randerson also warned that if the cuts materialised it would be a major blow for the organisation.

"The WTB is very vulnerable as its budget was expanded greatly three years ago under the partnership Government and therefore there might be a view that such a cut would only put its budget back to where it was," she said.

"If it is from its core budget it will have a serious effect on its ability to promote and market Wales globally.

"If its European funding aspect is hit it will have a knock-on effect on its ability to provide matched-funding.

"I will be pressing Andrew Davies to make a full statement on his funding plans, as well as those for the WDA, as the new financial year is only six weeks away.

"There is no way both organisations can plan ahead with the threat of budget cuts hanging over them.

The WTB has achieved all its targets and only a few weeks ago its record was praised by members of the Assembly's economic development committee."